Which university: UF, MSU, ISU, UA, or TTU?

[emeliano]

Hello everyone,

Following you can find detailed information as to those universities that I received offers from.

1. University of Florida (FULL FUND as TA, $22,968 per year + $2000 annually extra as Grinter Fellowship Award + waiver of tuition and health insurance fees)
2. Michigan State University (FULL FUND as TA, $23,480 per year + waiver of tuition, health insurance, and matriculation fees + reimbursement of SEVIS fee ($200) by the department! + Free Summer English Program alongside paying $1000 for living expenses during the course! )
3. Iowa State University (FULL FUND as TA, $24,936 per year + waiver of tuition and health insurance fees)
4. University of Akron (FULL FUND as TA, $19,000 per year + waiver of tuition and health insurance fees)
5. Texas Tech University (FULL FUND as TA, $21,000 per year + waiver of tuition and health insurance fees)

I am an international student and never had a chance to visit any of these universities. I can't decide which school to go to for my PhD. I would really appreciate your advice.
 

[landshark]

Well, they all sound like decent offers.  I guess I'd take into consideration the climate you'd be moving to.  Florida is warm most of the year, but also humid since it is essentially a peninsula in the ocean.  Iowa is a four season state, so it's cold in the winter, about 90s in the summer and somewhat humid, spring and fall are warm, sometimes rainy, etc.  Michigan is north of Iowa and surrounded by lakes, so winters are really cold and have heavy lake effect snow.  Texas is hot in the summer and dry unless you live along the coast.  Winters are mild in Texas unless you get a freak winter, but even then it is usually rain and not snow.  Akron, Ohio is probably subjected to Lake effect snow as well and would have similar weather to Iowa on a yearly basis.  Don't know if this helps your choices at all.  But if I had to move somewhere for the next 5 years, I'd definitely take the climate into consideration.

 

As an alumni of ISU, I can say that Ames is a nice place to live in general.  Good bus system, nice people, moderate shopping, not a super hopping nightlife, but some decent bars and a movie theater.  Des Moines has more clubs and such and it's only 45 minutes to downtown Des Moines, so that is pretty doable.  I enjoy having 4 distinct seasons (5 if you count Road construction as a season), so I didn't enjoy Texas as much as some people.  Anyway, hope I helped a little.  Good luck on your decision making!